Houston and Tulane meet in New Orleans, La. each with 7-8 C-USA records

May 2, 2013

HOUSTON - Set to play its final Conference USA road series, University of Houston Baseball will travel to New Orleans, La. this weekend to take on Tulane in a three-game league series, set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

All-Time: Houston and Tulane have met 59 previous times. Series History: Houston owns the all-time series record at 32-27. Last Meeting: Tulane took the 2012 series, 2-1, at Cougar Field back on May 11-13.

The series is slated to continue at 2 p.m. Saturday and wrap up at 1 p.m. Sunday at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

The Cougars are coming off a 6-4 midweek win over Louisiana-Lafayette that saw Houston pitching strike out 13 hitters and allow just four hits to the nation's leading slugging team, while junior Jonathan Davis drove in four RBI, three of which came on a three-run homerun in the first inning.

Houston enters the weekend series with an overall record of 28-17 and a 7-8 mark in Conference USA play to sit in a tie for sixth with Tulane, also at 7-8. The Cougars will look to rebound as they have dropped the last five league games, including three at UCF and two vs. Rice at home.

QUICK HITS ON HOUSTON· Houston is hitting .264, led by freshman Justin Montemayor's .314 average and sophomore Michael Pyeatt's .307 clip.· Montemayor paces the team in hits with 54, while juniors Frankie Ratcliff and Caleb Barker lead the team in RBI with 36 and 33, respectively.· Freshman Josh Vidales (38) and Ratcliff (36) lead C-USA in walks, while freshman Kyle Survance has 15 stolen bases for the league-lead.· Houston has totaled 20 triples as a ball club this season, just seven shy of the single-season record of 27, set back in 1990.· Montemayor and Survance are hitting .333 in C-USA play, while junior Landon Appling has a .293 clip.· Houston pitching holds a 3.82 ERA with 28 wins and 10 saves.· Senior Austin Pruitt paces the Cougars in wins (7-4), ERA (2.56), innings (84.1), complete games (4), and strikeouts (73), while holding his opposing hitters to a .220 average.· Freshman Jake Lemoine is 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA with 15 appearances and eight starts. The righty struck out a career-high seven in a win over Louisiana Tuesday.· Sophomore Aaron Garza is 4-4 with 10 starts and a 3.68 ERA through 51.1 innings tossed, while junior Daniel Poncedeleon is 5-4 with a 4.38 ERA and 11 starts, tallying 55 strikeouts in 61.2 innings worked.· Junior reliever Chase Wellbrock holds the team lead in saves with seven and has made a team-high 17 appearances out of the pen, striking out 23 in 22.0 innings.· Houston has fanned 309 hitters, while walking just 127.

QUICK HITS ON TULANE· Tulane is coming off of three straight wins for a record of 23-22 and a 7-8 mark in league play.· The Green Wave is hitting .234 as a team, led by Brennan Middleton's .293 and team-leading 54 hits.· Garrett Cannizaro paces the team in RBI with 27, while Richard Carthon is 10-of-16 in stolen bases.· Tulane has walked 164 times and struck out 204 - recording an on-base percentage of .327 as a ball club.· Green Wave pitching holds an ERA of 3.20 with 23 wins and 16 saves.· Tony Rizzotti leads the team with a 1.83 ERA and a 5-3 record in 10 starts. In 73.2 innings, the righty has fanned 54.· LHP David Napoli is 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA, while RHP Alex Byo is 2-4 with a 2.94 ERA.· RHP closer Ian Gibaut has 10 saves in 20 appearances out of the pen, while holding a record of 2-2 and a 2.10 ERA.· The staff has walked 148 opposing hitters and fanned 282.

SERIES HISTORY· Houston and Tulane have met 59 previous times in school history, dating back to 1986.· The Cougars own the all-time series record 32-27 and are 13-13 away from home.· Tulane took the 2012 series, 2-1, at Cougar Field back on May 11-13.

STAY CONNECTEDStay up to date with all Houston Baseball news and highlights by following us on Twitter @UHCougarBB or on Facebook at /HoustonCougarBaseball. Fans can also follow head coach Todd Whitting @toddwhitting on Twitter.

UP NEXTFollowing the weekend series, Houston will travel to McNeese State for its final midweek contest of 2013 for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch and then return home to Cougar Field to host UAB in a three-game weekend series, May 10-12.